Budget and Finance

Is An All-Cuts Budget Ahead?

FEB. 25, 2011 By KATY GRIMES SACRAMENTO — There is never a dull moment with California Gov. Jerry Brown. In a surprise visit to a budget committee meeting yesterday, Brown threatened to produce a budget that cuts $26.6 billion from

“Balance” Is Missing From Budget

CalWatchdog Staff February 24, 2011

FEB. 25, 2011 By KATY GRIMES SACRAMENTO — As the Budget Conference Committee hearings began on Wednesday, Republicans challenged the frequent use of the word “balanced” for describing the tax increases and budget cuts within the governor’s budget proposal. With

Bulldoze Williamson Act Subsidies?

CalWatchdog Staff February 24, 2011

Feb. 24, 2011 By DAVE ROBERTS There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth over Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget cuts, but the outcry over elimination of state subsidies for millionaire landowners may be overkill. Brown has zeroed out funding

CA Budget Still Needs Fumigation

CalWatchdog Staff February 22, 2011

Feb. 22, 2011 By JOHN SEILER As Gov. Jerry Brown and the state Legislature continue crafting a budget, skunks keep being thrown into the room. The biggest skunk is that the $146 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System, CalSTRS, is effectively

Courts' 2-Billion-Buck IT Bust

CalWatchdog Staff February 22, 2011

FEB. 22, 2011 By KATY GRIMES While courtrooms across the state are being closed, courthouse employees furloughed and criminal and civil cases taking record time to come to trial, the Administrative Office of the Courts refuses to halt the implementation

Will Illinois Beat California To Default?

CalWatchdog Staff February 19, 2011

This article is about Illinois, but it has obvious implications for California. FEB. 19, 2011 By CHRISS STREET Illinois’ powerful Wall Street syndicate of bond underwriters led by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs just postponed the state’s sale of $3.7

Cities Go On Wild Spending Spree

Steven Greenhut February 19, 2011

FEB. 19, 2011 Gov. Jerry Brown has been caught flat-footed in his plan to shutter the state’s redevelopment agencies as cities across California continue to squander their redevelopment cash, tying up hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term spending on

Will Wisconsin Protests Come to California?

CalWatchdog Staff February 18, 2011

Feb. 18, 2011 By JOHN SEILER Today Wisconsin, tomorrow California? The battle between government-employee unions and state budgets was inevitable once the unions were given collective bargaining rights over the past 50 years. The battle boiled over the past few

More At Stake Than Budget Realignment

CalWatchdog Staff February 17, 2011

FEB. 17, 2011 By KATY GRIMES Some county officials are balking at Gov. Jerry Browns proposal, in his January budget, to ”realign” state services to counties to save money. Brown’s proposal was prompted by a summer 2010 proposal by Senate

Lockyer: RDAs Entering Into Bad Deals

CalWatchdog Staff February 13, 2011

FEB. 14, 2011 By KATY GRIMES Immediately following Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal in January, the Legislative Analyst’s Office published an Overview of the Governor’s 2011-2012 Budget. As is often the case with the LAO, the analysis appears largely supportive,